The flag bearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr John Mahama, has said the supply of free fertilisers and chemicals to cocoa farmers will be restored if he returns to power.

According to the former President, cocoa farmers were supplied free fertilisers and chemicals for their farms during his tenure but under the Akufo-Addo administration, cocoa farmers have to pay for fertilisers for their farms.

Speaking at a durbar of chiefs and people of Elluokrom in the Bia West District on Wednesday, 19 February 2020, as part of his SpeakOut tour of the Western North Region, Mr Mahama assured cocoa farmers of his commitment toward ensuring the growth of the sector under his government if voted back into power.

Mr Mahama said: “God willing, when we finish with the elections and NDC returns to power, the mechanisms we put in place to ensure the growth of the cocoa sector and farmers, we’ll restore such mechanisms. We’ll restore the free fertiliser input and we’ll bring back all of that."

“On my way here, I saw lots of cocoa farms that were burnt; some, too, when you take a look at them, they look miserable. Have you seen a miserable cocoa tree before? Here, I saw miserable cocoa trees because they lack supply of chemicals and, so, we’ll restore all of that to enable us bring the cocoa sector to where it ought to be”, Mr Mahama.